Afghan Opium Output Drops After Taliban Ban – UN

A survey by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) stated that the total land under opium cultivation decreased by 20% last year, while the amount harvested fell by 32% during the same period.

Afghanistan previously produced more than 80% of the world's opium, and Afghan-produced heroin accounted for 95% of the European market.

However, after returning to power, the Taliban banned opium cultivation in April 2022, stating that it was illegal and against their religious beliefs. The UN said that most farmers were complying with the ban despite facing "severe economic hardship."

UNODC stated that many Afghan farmers are now growing cereal crops, but opium – the crop that is the main ingredient in heroin – remains "more profitable" than legal crops.

Due to a lack of alternatives, limited agricultural production, and climate change, more than 40% of available agricultural land remains fallow.

The total area under opium cultivation this year is 10,200 hectares, mainly in the northeast of the country, with the largest area in Badakhshan province. Before the 2022 ban, more than 200,000 hectares were under opium cultivation in Afghanistan.

Four provinces (Balkh, Farah, Laghman, Uruzgan) that cultivated opium in 2024 were declared opium-free in 2025.

The survey stated, "The scale and structure of the ban on opium cultivation has been almost entirely implemented."

UNODC said that the Taliban's efforts to eradicate opium fields have sometimes led to violent protests from farmers, particularly in the northeast. There are also reports of casualties during clashes in several districts of Badakhshan.

But most Afghan farmers are complying with the ban issued by the Taliban's supreme leader.

However, farmers say they are not receiving support to grow alternative crops – consequently, they are forced to choose between poverty and punishment.

"If we break the ban, we could go to jail. If we comply with it, we will face poverty," a farmer in Helmand province told BBC Pashto this summer.

"If there's no money, I'll grow opium again."

Opium fields are no longer openly visible in Helmand, but they still exist.

Another farmer told BBC Pashto about his small opium field, surrounded by walls in front of his house in a remote village. He is risking imprisonment, but said he has no choice.

"What should I do? I'm forced to do this – I have nothing else. I can't even provide food for my family."

The UNODC said that while opium consumption has decreased, the trafficking of synthetic drugs like methamphetamine has increased since the ban.

Seizures of such drugs in and around Afghanistan were 50% higher by the end of 2024 compared to the previous year.

The UNODC said organized crime groups prefer synthetic drugs, which are easier to produce and less affected by the impacts of climate change.